Crescent City Connection maintenance to be reduced if tolls expire, state officials say

If Crescent City Connection tolls expire Dec. 31 as scheduled, virtually all bridge services would be reduced, though details won't be available until the Legislature approves a state budget, state transportation officials said Wednesday. The Department of Transportation and Development plans to provide 21 workers and $1.5 million to maintain the bridge and 14 miles of mostly elevated expressway, transportation engineer Mike Stack told the Jefferson Parish Council. That's about half the amount currently spent on bridge upkeep using toll revenue, according a report from a Legislature-created task force that reviewed bridge finances and recommended renewing the tolls.

The Times-Picayune archiveDepartment of Transportation and Development officials say maintenance of Crescent City Connection would be scaled back if tolls expire Dec. 31 as scheduled.

If the tolls expire, the state would maintain the bridge using gas tax revenue, requiring cutbacks to bring the level of services in line with other bridges across the state, Stack said.

He said street sweeping would likely be done every two weeks instead of twice a week, mowing under the West Bank Expressway would switch from weekly in summer to 11 or 12 times a year and bridge inspections would be performed every two years instead of annually.

He said a more detailed list of services could be produced after the Legislature approves a budget and wraps up its session June 4.

Councilman Chris Roberts asked for such a list to be released well in advance of a possible Nov. 6 referendum for West Bank voters in Jefferson and Orleans parishes to decide whether to renew the tolls for 20 years. A House bill calling for such a vote was approved 95-4 and has been assigned to a Senate committee.

"If a voter goes into a booth in November, what are they basing an educated decision on?" Roberts said. "I think we're going to need the state to come out and say, 'These are the services we will provide.'"

One service that Stack said the state will not provide is lighting the bridge and West Bank Expressway, which costs about $800,000 a year. He said state law prohibits DOTD from paying for lighting bridges and roads.

Officials with all four governmental entities along the bridge and expressway -- Jefferson Parish, New Orleans, Gretna and Westwego -- have said they cannot afford to pay the lighting bill. Stack said the bridge will have a surplus of at least $10 million that could be used to cover lighting and some maintenance costs during a transitional period.

But Roberts said that the one-time money wouldn't last long and that the frequency of some bridge services outlined by Stack would be "woefully inadequate."

"If we would cut our medians 11 times a year, people would run us out of office," Roberts said.

If the tolls expire, the bridge's 24-member Police Department would be disbanded, with State Police taking over bridge patrols.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand told the council that if wrecks are not cleared from the bridge within 15 minutes, motorists can be trapped in bottlenecks for up to two hours.

"That makes the West Bank of Jefferson Parish a lot less attractive as a place to live, work and raise a family," Normand said, noting that virtually all of the parish's undeveloped land is on the west side of the Mississippi River. "It could have a significant stifling effect on future growth of the West Bank and the prosperity of this parish."

In a related matter, the council passed a resolution calling on DOTD to allocate money to repair the Harvey Tunnel, which the resolution says "has fallen into disrepair and is an unsightly blight and potential traffic hazard."

"If the Harvey Tunnel is any indication of what we can expect the bridge to look like in 10 years, people need to realize that and we need to be frank with them," said Roberts, who sponsored the resolution.

A DOTD spokeswoman has said the department is seeking a source of revenue to rehabilitate the tunnel, which she said has "no serious structural deficiencies."

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Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3785.